NEWBERRY, S.C. – After suffering a heartbreaking second conference loss in the spring, no. 23 Carson-Newman men's tennis (13-5, 7-2 SAC) was on a mission to rebound with a road trip to Newberry (10-13, 1-8 SAC) on Friday. As the Orange and Blue prepared for a crucial two-match weekend, the road trip got started with a 6-1 win for Carson-Newman from the Oakland Tennis Center.
With their win on Friday, the Eagles secure back-to-back victories over the Wolves since 2006. Prior to the result on Friday, C-N had lost every match following a win, as Newberry maintains the 12-5 series lead since 2006.
Friday was also the third attempt for C-N and Newberry to square off after the previous two scheduled meetings were affected by weather-related issues. The Orange and Blue gained an early shift of momentum Friday as the doubles portion of play started off Friday's competition.
"A dominant win for the boys," graduate coach Gabriel Dabdab said.
In the number one doubles spot for the Orange and Blue, Ids Waterbolk (Bennekom, Netherlands) and Gjorgji Jankulovski (Macedonia) took home a victory by a final of 7-6. With the win, the pairing moves to 13-5 overall this spring and 6-3 in SAC competition.
The Eagles would then go on to win at number two doubles as well as the pairing of Marc Janse (Zeewolde, Netherlands) and Lars Hordijk (Dordrecht, South Holland) continued their winning ways of the week by a final of 6-0. After Friday, Janse and Hordijk as a pairing have amassed a record of 12-6 overall and 7-2 in SAC competition.
Finally, Joshua Ott (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Rintaro Oka (Narita, Japan) were paired up in the number three doubles flight. The duo finished off the doubles sweep as they would win 7-6 and assure the Orange and Blue would be ahead 1-0 heading into singles.
Singles competition saw the Eagles claim five out of six matches as the Wolves would get even to start off the action before C-N rattled off five straight wins to gather their seventh SAC win of the spring.
The first singles match to conclude saw the host Wolves program even the score at 1-1 as Mateo B. would see C-N freshman Marnix Van Dalen retire after the first set got to a score of 3-1. Van Dalen moves to 10-8 overall and 6-3 against SAC opponents for the 2022 spring season.
"Marnix wasn't feeling great, but still tried to go for the match, and that's a decision that only a great teammate would make," Dabdab said. "Two breakers in doubles, with one winning 17-15 at #3."
From there, Rintaro Oka would regain the Eagles lead to 2-1 as he competed in number three singles, winning 6-4, 6-2 to move to 11-6 overall and 7-2 in SAC play for his 2022 campaign.
Ids Waterbolk was back at the number five singles flight for the Orange and Blue, taking home a 6-7, 6-2, 7-6 victory over his Wolves opposition Friday. The win not only moved the margin to 3-1 for the match, but moves the junior to a 2022 record of 14-3 overall and 7-1 in SAC competition.
"Ids did not play his best tennis, but fought through it and found a way to win, which is what counts at the end," Dabdab said.
The match on Friday would be clinched by junior Marc Janse at number two singles by a score of 6-3, 7-6. Janse has continued to be one of the leaders of this year's program as he moves to a team-leading 15-3 overall and 8-1 in SAC play.
Of his double-digit wins this spring, Janse is also leading the Eagles with a current streak of four straight singles wins.
The margin became 5-1 for C-N as Gjorgji Jankulovski, pulled out another win for his spring season total. With a final score of 6-0, 6-2, the freshman moves his singles record to 13-5 overall and 8-1 in 2022.
Finally, Lars Hordijk finished out the day with a 8-2 superset win from number five singles. In his first official spring with the team on the courts, Hordijk is 14-4 overall and 7-2 in SAC play including winning two straight.
No. 23 Carson-Newman remains on the road as they head to the Queen City of Charlotte, North Carolina for a meeting with the #36 Queens (N.C.) Royals. First serve is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. at the Levine Tennis Center between the two programs.
Be sure to keep up with all things Carson-Newman men's tennis at cneagles.com and on social media on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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